Cape Town - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane believes Hlompho Kekana, Sibusiso Vilakazi and Themba Zwane showed fatigue during their 2-1 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic on Wednesday evening.
Sundowns have had a hectic run of seven matches in the last month or so both domestically and in the CAF Champions League and it appears it is taking a toll on the players.
'Jingles' told reporters: "This game took a little more than we thought out of us.
"It was not an easy one and physically it has left us drained. KK (Hlompho Kekana) took a knock and struggled to finish.
"Villa (Sibusiso Vilakazi) looked a bit flat and Themba Zwane was laboured at times. He has had a lot of football and we have to be careful not to overload him.
"Maboe has been fighting for a goal but hasn't got a reward lately and Langerman has gone through a lot of work.
"The cake is too big and it's a big season for us‚ fighting across many different fronts. I'm happy now we've put the Celtic game behind us.
"It's one of those you are happy to tick off because it's always difficult. But we showed our experience and some of our players had unbelievably good games.
"I felt it was Iike a Champions League match where we had to defend well and attack well. It was a highly tactical game."
Goals from Mosa Lebusa and Zwane sealed the three points for the Brazilians while Celtic managed a late penalty goal from Sera Motebang.
Sundowns shift their focus to the MTN8 semi-final first leg against neighbours SuperSport United on Sunday, September 1.
Kick-off is at 15:00.
- TeamTalk Media